I can't believe Foster would waste space in his column responding to this kind of trolling, because anyone that stupid doesn't deserve a response.

When the NBA started, there were no black players at all. For many years there were no black coaches, and only recently have there been black owners. Now that's racism. Sports fans who can't get over the fact that the majority of players in the NBA these days are African-American need to take of their hoods and get a life.

We live in a world of excuses, where too many people don't take responsibility for their actions.

The race card is a convenient excuse to play.

Racism absolutely exists, and is horrible. But if it was as prevalent as some would have us believe, we'd all be dead.

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Who is "we", all MINORITIES would be wiped out but as far as "we", (including whites) I have a hard time with that one. Racism nowadays is not as overt as it used to be but believe me it is definitely there in peoples thoughts and behavior. I come across it everyday at my job when some patients/clients prefer to train with other physiologists when I have more experience and more credentials. Also, minorities have to prove themselves day in and day out that they are competant otherwise they are deemed inferior without hestiation. The "playing" field is not even, not even close.

I have never heard anyone mention how the Utah Jazz has consistently been a team that seem to always have more European/Caucasian starters and seem to always like the 6"9 and above caucasian type.

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I have heard of intimations that some NBA teams are racist because they stack their roster with white players. The Celtics of the 80s, and the current Jazz and Pacers come to mind. While I disagree that the management of these teams are racist, I do believe that they seek out white players to appeal to their predominantly white fan base.

It has also been my observation that our European players (and Arroyo) have not been all that well recieved by Detroit's fan base.

IMO, the management of NBA team try to appeal to their fan base. It's just good marketing.

I have heard of intimations that some NBA teams are racist because they stack their roster with white players. The Celtics of the 80s, and the current Jazz and Pacers come to mind. While I disagree that the management of these teams are racist, I do believe that they seek out white players to appeal to their predominantly white fan base.

It has also been my observation that our European players (and Arroyo) have not been all that well recieved by Detroit's fan base.

IMO, the management of NBA team try to appeal to their fan base. It's just good marketing.

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Hey Murph...we know that the Pistons do a great job of marketing so I think we can throw out racial preference as a marketing tool for the Pistons. My feeling is that if there are people seeing racism in some of the player moves they are ignorant and ill informed.

LA Sam used to argue that drafting Darko was a marketing move but with the Palace selling out every game why would that be necessary?

Having said that...I will admit that some posters here do seem to have a racial bias for "white" players. Nothing overt but it's there.

Hey Murph...we know that the Pistons do a great job of marketing so I think we can throw out racial preference as a marketing tool for the Pistons. My feeling is that if there are people seeing racism in some of the player moves they are ignorant and ill informed.

LA Sam used to argue that drafting Darko was a marketing move but with the Palace selling out every game why would that be necessary?

Having said that...I will admit that some posters here do seem to have a racial bias for "white" players. Nothing overt but it's there.

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I find it hard to believe that there is racism involved when a guy is paid almost 5 million bucks to sit on the bench and do little to justify getting paid that amount. Let's not forget that most of these guy's asked to be traded. So what are Flip Saunders and Larry Brown? They chose not to play Darko and Delfino.

Marketing is a big part of the picture. Don't forget those jersey sales and apparel. It is a big part of the profit pie. The ticket sales are a drop in the bucket compared to those jersey's that sale for $80 a piece and only cost like $2 bucks to make in India somewhere. How many Darko jersey's did you see at the palace as soon as Darko was drafted? I don't think the Pistons drafted Darko for marketing purposes, but they did see that he was a young guy that they could market to the younger crowd and to the young female basketball fan. If they didn't see that then they would not be doing there job.

In sports the bottom line is MONEY. There is very little time for racial preferences. If a guy can play then he is going to be employed. Look at all of these players that constantly stay in trouble. If they could not play do you think these teams would give a rats behind about them? It would be so easy to cut these guy's lose.

To be honest I think it is just harder for some of the foreign players that the Pistons have brought in to excel in the Pistons system. Those players are not used to playing the Pistons style of play. Nothing racial about it. It is insane that some people are so ignorant. These same people probably don't even watch 5 games a year.

...Racism absolutely exists, and is horrible. But if it was as prevalent as some would have us believe, we'd all be dead.

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I get what you're saying, but I can tell you from experience that's not entirely true. It's just less acceptable for people to be overt about it so people are naturally more selective and creative about how they go about what they say or do. It's much more clandestine than ever.

Besides our entire legal/social system is based on what you can see/prove. It's much easier to get away with something when you're a lot less obvious about how you do it. It's the reason criminals do their dirt at night and in hidden areas...you're aren't going to sell drugs at 3 in the afternoon on 5th ave. You're going to do it at midnight behind a warehouse. Although, Tim Hardaway/Don Imus/Isaiah Washington might.

Who is "we", all MINORITIES would be wiped out but as far as "we", (including whites) I have a hard time with that one. Racism nowadays is not as overt as it used to be but believe me it is definitely there in peoples thoughts and behavior. I come across it everyday at my job when some patients/clients prefer to train with other physiologists when I have more experience and more credentials. Also, minorities have to prove themselves day in and day out that they are competant otherwise they are deemed inferior without hestiation. The "playing" field is not even, not even close.

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The "we" I was talking about was the human race. All colours - including "whites".

I get what you're saying, but I can tell you from experience that's not entirely true. It's just less acceptable for people to be overt about it so people are naturally more selective and creative about how they go about what they say or do. It's much more clandestine than ever.

Besides our entire legal/social system is based on what you can see/prove. It's much easier to get away with something when you're a lot less obvious about how you do it. It's the reason criminals do their dirt at night and in hidden areas...you're aren't going to sell drugs at 3 in the afternoon on 5th ave. You're going to do it at midnight behind a warehouse. Although, Tim Hardaway/Don Imus/Isaiah Washington might.

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I absolutely agree 100% with both of you that racism does exist. I have no doubt that you both encounter racism in varying degrees almost every day. I also agree with you that it is less overt and much more secretive. That was my point. It has to be that way because racism is frowned upon in today's society. If everyone was racist, it would be out in the open.

Racism is a very serious and sensitive subject. The point that I was trying to make was that there is already enough of it in the world that we (the collective "we") don't need to fabricate it, look for it around every corner, or be paranoid that everyone is a racist.

Obviously Drew Sharp is responding to a lot of letters or e-mails. If that is the case, than I don't blame him for writing a response. Maybe they've received thousands of letters of this type. Joe is not a racist. He opened up his basketball court complex out in the burbs, where he dealt with many white clients. He's drafted many european players (to my dismay). He's also hired white coaches (although LB pockets are lined with green). The real racists out there are the ones who could generate such letters.

Is Larry Brown a Racist? The DHOF crowd will tell you that he hates Euros. (Euros is code for non English speaking white guys. Ginobli, Delfino, Darko, and Oberto are Euros. Andrew Bogut: Australian)

I just read TaShawn's post. I missed the fact that Joe drafted these guys. This sure is a dumb idea.

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Brown doesn't "hate" Euros. However, as a coach he was a lot more comfortable with the American style game than the European style game and never really cared for the European style game. That impacted his player personnel decisions.